NOTRE DAME, Ind. -
Notre Dame took advantage of two Western Michigan errors in the first inning to plate three runs and never looked back en route to a 6-2 victory Wednesday night at Frank Eck Stadium. The Irish improved to 12-14-1 and the Broncos dropped to 14-16.

Sophomore RHP Adam Norton improved to 2-1 on the year. He limited Western Michigan to a pair of earned runs on five hits in 5.0 innings. Norton struck out five and walked two. He allowed a run in each of the first two innings, but blanked the Broncos over his final three innings of work. Norton also chipped in with a pair of singles in three at-bats.

Monty Porter was charged with the loss and dropped to 0-3 on the campaign. He scattered six hits over 5.2 innings and yielded six runs, but only three were earned. Porter struck out three and did not walk a batter. Porter was victimized by four Western Michigan errors, two of which allowed the Irish to plate three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Hudgins worked a hitless inning. Fitzgerald collected one strikeout in 1.2 scoreless innings. McIver also registered a punch out in 0.2 innings of work and Slania got the final two outs of the contest on a double play line out to end the game.

Fitzgerald, who was named to the BIG EAST honor roll earlier this week, has not allowed an earned run over his last 11.1 innings of work.

Freshman 1B Trey Mancini went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a two-run double in the top of the first inning. Freshman CF Eric Jagielo went 1-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, while sophomore C Joe Hudson went 1-for-3 with an RBI single. Fifth-year senior RF Herman Petzold and senior 3B Greg Sherry each added sacrifice flies to drive in a run.

Notre Dame lowered its season ERA to 2.80. The Irish have now allowed two earned runs of fewer in 11 different games in 2011.

Notre Dame returns to action at 5:35 p.m. on Friday at Frank Eck Stadium for the opening tilt of a three-game series with BIG EAST rival Connecticut. The game will be broadcast live on WHME Harvest 103.1 FM and live audio and video will be available online at UND.com. Live stats will also be available on GameTracker.

As always, please visit UND.com regularly for full coverage of all Notre Dame athletics news and events.